The sudden popularity of a lot of tennis derivatives, such as beach tennis and the oddly named pickleball, is a thing that puzzles me to this day. Whilst I get the fact that tennis is a bit elitist and complicated to learn, I don’t exactly get the appeal of these severely stripped-down versions of the sport. Then again, if it’s getting popular enough, I assume a company releasing a video game adaptation is more than fair. It just didn’t need to be something as bland as Pickleball Smash, the debut of the sport in electronic form, and oh boy, not a good one at that.

It doesn’t look like a game that had a lengthy and concise development cycle. Everything feels rushed and incomplete in terms of content. I will give the team credit for ensuring Pickleball Smash was completely glitch free, with somewhat responsive controls, but that doesn’t mean this was a fun experience. On the contrary. I may have complained about recent Mario Tennis games in the past for their sheer lack of stuff to do in them, but when comparing them to Pickleball Smash, it’s like we’re playing a hundred hour JRPG.

No mode variety besides a basic arcade mode (divided between singles and doubles) and three basic minigames. This is all Pickleball Smash has in stock, with the tutorial and practice (labeled as a minigame) only being unlocked AFTER you play a first arcade match. The presentation is as bare bones as possible, with below-average GameCube graphics, a really simplistic menu layout, repetitive (but average) music, and the entirety of the pickleball ruleset explained via a poorly detailed wall of text at the beginning of your first match.

If you are tennis a fanatic who loves to fly straight towards the net in order to volley like an imbecile (like I do in real life as well as in games like Matchpoint Tennis Championships), you will quickly find out this rule is forbidden in pickleball. You will also realize that matches take forever, despite the fact that pickleball is basically miniature tennis. You can only score a point when you are serving. If you win whenever the adversary is serving, no points are given and you are then allowed to serve. However, if you and the opponent keep breaking serves, you will be playing at an eternal standstill with no points being given to anyone.

With such a paltry amount of content and limited gameplay loop, there’s little else that can or should be said about Pickleball Smash. Even if it’s not glitchy or broken, it’s just really boring. There’s not enough substance to keep you entertained for more than a few minutes at a time. The pickleball ruleset also doesn’t translate very well to an arcade-like environment, with matches possibly lasting for a damn eternity if players keep breaking each other’s serves. There is no reason to grab this over any other racket-based sports game, even if you, somehow, prefer pickleball over tennis.

 

Graphics: 3.0 It runs well, but it looks like a below-average GameCube game at best after removing your glasses.	Gameplay: 6.0 It doesn’t control poorly, but it does a bad job at explaining the rules of pickleball.
Sound: 5.0 Boring sound effects and repetitive music being played at a low volume on the back. The music isn’t bad per se, though, but still very forgettable.	Fun Factor: 4.5 It’s not broken or glitchy, but it’s still incredibly boring. There is no reason to grab this over any other racket-based sports game, even if you, somehow, prefer pickleball over tennis.
Final Verdict: 4.5

Pickleball Smash is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Pickleball Smash was provided by the publisher.